Original October 29, 2019 item:
Daniel Cameron, Republican candidate for Kentucky Attorney General,
posted about a Lexington Herald-Leader cartoon by Joel Pett on his twitter feed:
Which led the Florida-based Biz Pac Review political news site (“breaking news and analysis unfiltered by the liberal bias that has eroded the media’s credibility”) to take up the cause:
A white liberal cartoonist has accused a black Republican of being a supporter of the Ku Klux Klan.
Why? Because black Republican Daniel Cameron, who’s poised to be Kentucky’s first black attorney general if he wins the upcoming Nov. 5 election, supports Republican President Donald Trump.
The cartoon shared above by Cameron was published last Friday in the Lexington Herald-Leader by cartoonist Joel Pett, an unabashed white liberal who, it would seem, has deemed himself the savior of all minorities … except for the ones he dislikes, of course.
…
Like other white liberals, Pett also has no qualms about using minorities — including minority children — to score points against those pesky “racist” Republicans.
The lengthy BPR article reports on Joel’s past history as a liberal cartoonist viv-a-vis minorities.
Linda Blackford, Herald-Leader columnist and commentator, responded to David Cameron’s charges.
I asked Pett this question and he was blunt: “We should hold ourselves to the highest standards when it comes to calling out anybody in power. You’d have to be crazy ambitious or blind to overlook Trump’s racism.”
…
I think it would have been a stronger cartoon had some of these other Kentucky politicians who tie themselves so ardently to Trump had been hanging on that bedsheet. If they are against racism, as they claim, then they should call Trump out every time he lets fly with another abhorrent tweet. They should prove they are better than he is, and better than many Republican dog whistles that have populated campaigns for the past few decades. But why are the Republicans who are so offended by this cartoon not equally offended by Trump’s original words?
Updated – November 1, 2019
The Bowling Green (Kentucky) Daily News has published an editorial denouncing the Lexington (Kentucky) Herald-Leader editorial cartoonist Joel Pett over the offending cartoon above.
We believe Lexington Herald-Leader editorial cartoonist Joel Pett crossed that line in a recent cartoon. Pett drew a cartoon depicting President Donald Trump in a KKK outfit, holding up a sign saying “Central Park 5, Birtherism, Muslim ban, Charlottesville, Lynching, etc., etc.” In the background is a sign saying “Coattails” and a picture of Republican Kentucky Attorney General candidate Daniel Cameron grabbing the bottom of Trump’s robe.
This is an outrage. To suggest that Trump is a member of the KKK is simply beyond the pale. It is ridiculous and insulting, and Pett should have had enough judgment to know it was inappropriate. What is even more concerning is the Cameron connection. One can obviously infer that not only is Pett trying to call Cameron an “Uncle Tom” for being black and supporting Trump, but also questioning the racial overtones that are connected to this. Is Pett trying to infer that Cameron condones the Klan? We don’t know, but it’s a fair question to ask.
Read the editorial condemning its neighbor to the northeast.
It appears that it is OK when a left-leaning newspaper like
the Herald-Leader publishes garbage like this. But it is not OK.
They even teased the editorial at the bottom of page one:
hat tip to Newseum for the front page.
Updated November 4, 2019
Joel Pett has written a Letter to the Daily News Editor regarding their Joel Pett editorial.
To the Editors,
After thirty-five years of penning opinions, I’m the last person to try and silence yours. But I hope you’ll allow a response to your editorial.
Yes, I drew a cartoon suggesting that Donald Trump’s history of racism and divisiveness is being abetted by opportunistic political sycophants, including Daniel Cameron. I find it sad, despicable and incomprehensible and I tried to express that. (Though not with the derisive term “Uncle Tom” which you chose to use.)I did, as editorial cartoons must, employ imagery. Maybe your editors know some better imagery than the Klan robes and burning crosses to suggest racism, but I don’t.